Starships
=Ships= [This artle is about the ships of AstroEmpires. For the stats connected to ships view Ship stats] Ships are used in AstroEmpires to build up your fleets. There are many different kinds of ships each with their own advantages, disadvantages and costs. This page is dedicated to these different ships. Fighters Fighters are the first ship you will get your hands on in AE and also the most extensively used. They are affectionately referred to as Meatshields as they are used to help protect major fleets by soaking up fire from the enemy. Their low cost makes them perfect for swarm attacks, but they are unable to move on their own (requiring Hanger space aboard larger ships). Their low Power makes them all but useless against many shielded ships unless in extremely high numbers and/or with extremely high amounts of laser tech. How to counter: Heavy Cruisers and capital ships. Bombers A bomber is a military ship designed to attack targets, primarily by dropping bombs on them. Like Fighters, Bombers require hangar space in order to travel between astros. They are more expensive than fighters but pack a much bigger punch and are often used early on against low level escort ships, such as Cruisers and Heavy Cruisers. How to counter: Fighters Heavy Bombers Heavy Bombers are a more powerful Bomber. They are still unable to move under their own energy but have twice the armour and 5 times the power of a fighter. They are not meatshields but rather large ship killers. They can be used to kill Dreadnoughts and Titans. They are used mostly to hit large enemy fleets over high Command Centers. How to counter: Fighters Ion Bombers Ion Bombers are equal to Heavy Bombers in Armour but hold three distinct advantages over them: First, they have a shielding value of 1. Second, 50% of their Power passes right through Shields. Ship type has no effect, so ion bombers will damage a Death Star just as much as a Heavy Cruiser. Third, they have a higher power value than heavy bombers. These ships are best used against lone capital ships. How to Counter: Fighter-Destroyer. Corvette A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship. This allows you to use it for scouting when Scout Ships are unavailable. They are also useful as fast strike ships, which can be very effective at hitting Recyclers. Paired with Destroyers they can form a strong force against cruisers and lower. Due to their small size, the are also excelent to get a target tech levels, without getting detected on scanners. How to counter: Capital ships. Recycler Recyclers are a specialized ship designed to collect space Debris and convert it into credits at a rate of 10 credits per hour (30 minutes past the hour). Simply move recyclers onto an astro that contains space debris to begin collection (assuming there is debris on the Astro). Debris are created when ships are destroyed. How to counter: Anything except scout ships. Destroyer A destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range but powerful attackers,like a Corvette.Destroyers are most commonly employed as meatshields in larger fleets, a tactic that is intended to reduce the losses to the vessels being used (most commonly Cruisers or Heavy Cruisers) by absorbing the damage inflicted by enemy fleet and/or defenses. Favorable Target: Heavy Cruiser How to counter: Fighters and capital ships like Battleship or bigger Frigate Frigates are versatile machines, that can be used in a number of ways, but their use is very tech-dependant. One early-server advantage is they are the first ship that allows you to transport Fighters,Bombers, and Heavy Bombers. Frigates also get very good ratios against Cruisers and Heavy Cruisers, especially with their hangars full of Fighters, Bombers, or Heavy Bombers to help soak up damage. Lastly, Frigates are the lowest tier unit that can defeat Planetary Rings (provided there are no Planetary Shields present). This unit takes a good Missiles tech to utilize properly, so if you are not willing to research Missiles to high levels, you will not get very good results from Frigates. If you do the research, however, you will find that Frigates are worth building in large numbers. How to counter: Anything other than Cruisers or Heavy Cruisers. Frigates are especially vunerable to Fighters. Ion Frigate Ion Frigates are equal to Frigate in Power and Armour but hold two distinct advantages over them. First, they have 1 shield and second, 50% of their Power passes right through Shields. This doesn't get affected no matter the ship, so it will hurt a Death Star just as much as a Heavy Cruiser. These ships are best used against lone capital ships as they are dead meat if they come face to face with fighters. To offset this, they can be loaded with Fighters to hold off enemy hangar units. If pure destruction is more your thing, they could be loaded with Ion bombers for even greater cross-shield attacks. How to counter: Anything except capital ships. Scout Ship A scout ship is a ship specially designed for scouting. It has limited weapons and weak armour but is extremely fast allowing it to move between sectors and remove the fog of war. How to counter: Even recyclers are more powerful than these ships. In the words of Peppy Hare, "Just shoot it, Fox!" Outpost Ship An outpost ship is a specialized ship that allows the creation of new bases. Move the ship over the planet you want to colonize and hit the build base button and you will create a new base, provided you have the credits to build said base. How to counter: Since you probably won't be encountering these in massive fleets, just about anything could take them out. Cruiser A cruiser is a large type of warship,perhaps one of the most versatile of all ships within the Astroverse, and may usually be found in the majority of fleets. Most players will employ at least one cruiser type (Cruisers and Heavy Cruisers), and more often both. How to counter: Heavy Bombers, Ion Bombers, Destroyers, Titans, Leviathans, and Death Stars. Carrier The carrier is the first specialized unit for carrying fighters and bombers. It has 60 hangar space and is used along with cruiser fleets for fast strikes due to their comparable speed. Very weak if taken into battle, its best to move them before attacking. How to counter: Anything except recyclers and scout ships Heavy Cruiser The heavy cruiser is a type of cruiser,designed for long range, high speed and an armament .The Heavy Cruiser is your bread and butter in AE. It is one of the most used ships in the game as it can be used effectively against most ships in the game. They are often used as the core of any fleet tied with Cruisers for backup. How to counter: Frigates, Heavy Bombers, Cruisers, Death Stars. Battleship http://wiki.astroempires.com/index.php/Image:Item_battleship_medium.png A battleship is a large, heavily armored warship.Larger, better armed, and better armored than cruisers and destroyers the battleship is more or less the first capital ship you will get your hands on. Large size, power, decent hangar capacity, and shields make this a good choice for taking down larger capital ships (provided they attack in high enough numbers.) How to counter: Cruisers and Heavy Cruisers Fleet Carrier http://wiki.astroempires.com/index.php/Image:Item_fleet-carrier_medium.png The Fleet Carrier is the second specialist unit designed to carry large numbers of fighters and bombers. It has 400 hangar spaces and are used in most large fleets for the bulk of hangar transportation. Very weak if taken into battle, its best to move them before attacking. How to counter: Anything except recyclers, scout ships, carriers and small numbers of fighters Dreadnought http://wiki.astroempires.com/index.php/Image:Item_dreadnought_medium.png Dreadnoughts are the first true capital ships of AE. Most commonly used for base defense. How to counter: Cruisers and Heavy Cruisers *(x) in Shipyard indicates the number of Orbital Shipyards required. Due to the tech level needed to build these units their stats are more correctly Power: 982.8. Titan http://wiki.astroempires.com/index.php/Image:Item_titan_medium.png Titans are good at "Shield-Raping." This means their shield value is higher than the attack power of cruisers and everything below. Titans are also good at taking bases with Disruptor Turrets as their main defense. However, they suffer from a significant decrease in speed when compared to smaller attack ships. How to counter: Ion Bombers, Heavy Cruisers, Battleships and other capital ships *(x) in Shipyard indicates the number of Orbital Shipyards required. *Due to the tech level needed to build these units their stats are more correctly Power: 4422, Armor: 4300, Shield 51. Leviathan Leviathans are bigger than Titans, and therefore inherently better. Don't have Planetary Ring? Out of protection? Expect to see one of these heading towards your base. Leviathans also are great at Shield-raping everything below Heavy Cruisers. Many a Jump Gate has been crashed by a Levi stack single-handedly destroying everything. Also, due to the 5% combat bonus they give to fleet (and the large amount of damage they can take), Leviathans, or more commonly said "Levis" are excellent support ships. How to counter: Ion Bombers/Frigates, Heavy Cruisers, Battleships, Dreadnoughts, and Death Stars *(x) in Shipyard indicates the number of Orbital Shipyards required. *due to the tech level needed to construct these units their stats are more closely Power:16000, Armor:15840, and Shield:72. Stats not listed are not affected by the minimum tech level needed to construct the ships. Death Star "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed." -Darth Vader The Death Star is the largest ship in AE. Extremely powerful on its own or as part of a fleet but vulnerable to a well coordinated or larger fleet. The ship also offers a 10% power bonus to the rest of your fleet when its present. They have no equal in the art of Shield-Raping, as not even heavy cruisers can dent their shields, and their 10k hangar space allows them to carry more than enough fighters and heavy/ion bombers to destroy any Ion units they encounter. Their main drawback is their crippling lack of speed, which is further compounded by their inability to use jump gates. How to counter: A combination of Battleships, Dreadnoughts, Ion Bombers, and prayers to your deity of choice. *(x) in Shipyard indicates the number of Orbital Shipyards required. *due to the tech level required to build them their stats are more Correctly Power:42075, Armor:34155, Shielding:114, and Speed 2. Thus giving them the ability to shield rape everything below battleships.